Apparatus for producing plastic surfaces on wood



April 12, 1938.

w. CLEFF' APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PLASTIC SURFACES 0N WOCD Filed May 25, 1956 45 bing with wet cloths or brushes. The burning is a water tank 2 the longitudinal side walls 3 of 45 the graduated and uniform tone of colours detank 2, which is supported in a frame 6 secured 5 Patented:Apr.1 2,- 1938 i I 2,113,679

' UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PLASTIC SUR- FACES ON WOOD Wilhelm Clefl, Sackingen, Germany Application May 25, 1936, Serial No. 81,785

In France June 3, 1935 2 Claims. (01. 41--1) According to the present invention the method that the burning of one surface only would proof producing plastic surfaces on wood is carried duce stresses in the wood so that it would not reinto effect by a device in which, ina single procmain in its original shape. After this carbonizing ess the wood to be treated is moved by a feeding process had been effected the surfaces were prodevice, which latter may be instantaneously advided with the desired ornamentation or decora- 5 j-usted to several different speeds, the wood being tion by brushing, rubbing and so on. firstly subjected to the charring'effect of a wide The advantage of a variegated surface on one burner. After the surface of the wood to be side of the wood only, effected by the plastic treated has been subjected to the charring or treatment of the annual hard concentric rings of 10 burning effect of the wide burner, said surface in growth consists in that the wood is instantane- 10 its travel passes a cooling device which acts on ously and quickly charred by means of a hot the charred surface and affects the heat arising flame, the quicker the better, wherein the pasfromthe char'ring action before such heat can sage speed of travel of the wood, eflected by the reach the inner core of the .wood which thereby feed ng d Which is adjustable for dif prevents the wood from losing its shape. The ent speeds, plays an important part and that im- 15 cooling device serves at the same time to prevent mediately afterwards the heat caused by the the discharge of flames and sparks into the decharring actio before it can penetrate into carbonizing and cleaning chamber arranged adthe core of the wood, is cooled by means of a heat jacent thereto. The decarbonization and the cooling device which thus renders it possible to 2 production of theplastic variegated wood takes obtain for panelling and the like purposes place in the cleaning chamber by means of a straight and non warping surfaces, the propernumber of specially formed quickly rotating ties of which, as regards warping, are the same as grinding rollers arranged onebehind the other ordinary wood. It is more economical to subject in the direction of the grain which act on the to a charring action one side only of wood used Su face of the wood, such grinding rollers being for panelling or like decoration because the treat- 5 exactly adjusted or tuned relatively to each other ment of both sides serves no purpose and is unand consisting of rough, medium and fine rollers economical. as well as polishing rollers. The special con- The accompanying drawing diagrammatically struction of the grinding rollers also renders posillustrates the device used for carrying said methsible the decarbonization and fine grinding of od into effect and wherein:- 30

. slightly chamfered or fluted profiles and of hol- Figure 1 shows alongltudinal section of the delow and round boards. The grinding rollers actvice; Fig. 1a shows a conventional step pulley ing in the direction of the grain remove more or which may be adjusted to alter the speed of a feed less deeply charred parts of the soft wood, and roller; Fig. 2 shows a cross-section taken on line the adjustment of the feed device to a certain I--I of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows the cross-section of a 35 speed of rotation more or less helps to give lightcleaning and grinding roller; Fig. 4 shows the or or darker tones. The grain of the wood charcross-section of a polishing roller; Fig. 5 shows a red or burned in the carbonizing process remains comb for a polishing roller. and stands out in a plastic form from the charred Above the table frame A is arranged a heating 40 basic surface. or burning chamber B consisting of a casing open 40 In methods hitherto known for the ornamenat the underside, in which are fitted known types tation or decoration of wood, in which wood is of wide burners i equipped with air adjusting burned, charred or carbonized, the more or less means. Behind the burning chamber B is archarred parts of the wood are removed by rubranged a cooling device 0. The latter consists of done in primitive manner by hand with a solderwhich conver ;e conically towards the bottom ing lamp in a similar manner to painting with a leaving an open slot 4 to receive a hygroscopic brush. It is obvious, that by treating the wood strip of material or cloth 5 protruding at the outin this manner even an expert cannot produce side, such as a cotton wick or the like. The water sired. In other methods, although they give conto the table frame A and pressed downwardly by tinuous working all parts of the surface are howthe springs i, can be adjusted in height by means ever charred because the same amount of heat of the screw-threaded spindles 8. The distance is applied for the same length of time, these between the wood to be treated and the outlet 35 methods being based on the incorrect principle of the tank can thus be accurately adjusted.

Next to this cooling device 0, is disposed the decarbonizing and cleaning chamber D in which are fitted a number of quickly rotating grinding rollers specially constructed for the purpose to which they are to be adapted. The grinding rollers. which are intended for different purposes, can also be lodged individually in separate casings. For their particular purposes, the first rollers 9, which effect the decarbonization, have rougher surfaces than the next following rollers l0 serving for cleaning and grinding and the polishing rollers I l. The cleaning and grinding rollers ID, the bristles of which consist of crimped steel or brass wire, are provided with three equally spaced gaps l2 (Fig. 5) over the circumference. The bristles of the grinding rollers which are subjected to pressure can thus more easily adapt themselves to the shape of the surface to be ground, than would be the case if the bristles entirely covered the roller. The crimped steel or brass wire bristles have the same tearing and grinding effect as sand paper on the surface of the wood so that even profiled parts and hollow boards can be treated perfectly. The'circumfer ence of the polishing rollers l l are provided with a number of equally spaced exchangeable comblike strips l3 made of leather; rougher or finer combs may be used in accordance with the nature of the surface to be treated. Underneath these grinding rollers, on the table frame A are arranged additional guide rollers M for the wood l5 to be treated and in front of the chamber B where the wood enters the machine, as well as behind the cleaning chamber D, where the wood leaves the machine are arranged two mechanically driven feed rollers I6, the number of revolutions of which may be altered in accordance with the time required to treat or char the wood, a scale being provided for adjustment purposes. Thus the degree or intensity of the burning or charring operation most suitable for giving the depth and tone for the different kinds of wood can be determined such as for white or red fir tree, larch or pine and so on. The upper part of the chamber B is provided with a flue I! in order that the combustion gases mayescape and the upper part of the decarbonizing and cleaning chamber is provided with a dome-shaped cover l8 to which is connected a flue I9.

When applying the method by means of the apparatus above described the burners I located in the chamber B are first lit. After the device is set-going, the wood to be treated is introduced between the two feed rollers IS. The wood then passes through the burning zone I in which it is subjected to a uniform heat, the influence of which on the surface of the wood depends on the speed at which the wood is fedalong and may be regulated by varying the speed of rotation of the feed rollers l6. After this burning process, the wood reaches the cooling device C which cools the wood previously heated by the burning or charring action on its surface before the heat reaches the core of the wood so preventing the wood from losing its shape. From the cooling device C, the wood reaches the decarbonizing and cleaning chamber D in which first of ll the charcoal dust is removed by means of the first rough grinding roller 9 which dust is drawn away by the flue l9 which forms an extension of the dome-shaped cover [8 and is connected to an exhaust fan or like device. On its further travel, the wood passes through a number -of grinding rollers [0, which are arranged one behind the other and exactly adjusted to each other until finally it reaches the polishing rollers H which remove all charcoal particles still remaining on the surface of the wood and polish its surface.

I claim:-

1. Apparatus for producing a plastic variegated surface on wood comprising, in combination, a table, a burning chamber mounted on said table, burners mounted in said chamber for charring wood, a cooling chamber containing water mounted on said table in juxtaposition to said burning chamber, an opening in the bottom of said cooling chamber, absorbent material located in said opening, a decarbonizing and cleaning chamber mounted on said table next to said cooling chamber,abrasive and polishing rotarybrushes mounted in said cleaning chamber, adjustable means carried by the table at one end for feeding wood along the table, means supporting the wood intermediate the table ends and means at the other end thereof for delivering the wood, the brushes acting on the wood in the direction of the grain.

2. Apparatus for producing a plastic variegated surface on wood comprising, in combination, a table, a burning chamber mounted on said table at one end, regulatable burners mounted in said chamber for charring wood, driven rollers for feeding wood along the table, the speed of said rollers being variable, a cooling chamber containing water mounted on the table in juxtaposition to said burning chamber, an opening in the bottom of said cooling chamber, absorbent material disposed in said opening conducting water to the wood thereunder, a decarbonizing and cleaning chamber mounted on the table in juxtaposition to said cooling chamber, rotary abrasive brushes mounted in said cleaning chamber, the bristles being formed of metal strips, the bristles having equal spaced gaps and a rotary polishing brush mounted in said cleaning chamber, the bristles of said polishing brush being constructed of strips of leather, equally spaced gaps dividing said bristles into groups, said brushes acting on the wood in the direction of the grain.

WILHELM CLEFF. 

